Department profile: Kinesiology (page 2)

There are more traditional
teaching tools, too, like calipers that
help determine composition (fat
percentage, lean body mass including
muscle and bone mass), and several
skeletons and other anatomical models
used in anatomy courses. But for those
anatomy courses, Fagenbaum also
uses software programs to simulate
parts of the human body. The biology
department also lets students view the
cadaver in West Science, she said, but
the computer program means they
have more chances to understand how
the human body works.

The lab has been open for two
years now, and the faculty is still
refining how it’s being used and seeing
what else they need to offer.

“We keep adding more every
year,” she said.

Those additions keep up with the
changes in kinesiology as a discipline, and enrollment has increased in part
because of the interdisciplinary nature
of the courses they teach.

Fagenbaum said she occasionally
sees biology majors and pre-med students
in her exercise science courses. The students
are either interested in sports and
physical activity generally, she said, or are
considering working with physical and
occupational therapy when they graduate.
Her classes, which focus on how the
body moves in exercise, among other
things, show them something they can’t
get in other departments.

DeVries said that his Sport
Psychology and Sport in American
Society classes attract not just
kinesiology majors, but psychology
and sociology students. His Exercise
Psychology course has generated
interest as well. The psychology of
exercise is important, he said, because
people understand why they should
exercise, but many don’t, and the
course examines the reasons why.

The focus on interdisciplinary
studies has helped kinesiology majors,
Whale said, because if students
are interested in sports medicine
or another allied health field, they
have resources on campus with
Dimensions: The Center for the
Science and Culture of Healthcare.
Some students even participate in
Operation Walk, where they observe
medical professionals performing joint
replacement surgeries, and they assist
with physical therapy in countries like
China, El Salvador, and Vietnam.

And that growth has been thanks to
the split that happened seven years ago.

“I’m not aware of any small college
anywhere else with a kinesiology
program that isn’t involved in
coaching,” Whale said. “Teaching is all
we do; it’s our focus.”